Greenville DE Franklin Whitley (6-7 270) had quite the weekend. Friday afternoon, an offer from Clemson. Friday night, a win over Easley to improve to 5-1. And on Saturday, a visit to Alabama.
First things first. Whitely gets the call from Clemson defensive ends coach Chris Rumph around Noon on Friday.
“I was on the way home after school on Friday, and Coach Rumph called me and we were talking a little bit. He’s been watching film, saw how much I’ve improved, and he decided to offer me,” Whitley said. “There was a little bit of relief, a little bit of grace and thanks. They told me they were slow to go. They were transparent with me the whole time. They followed through on what they said and they offered me. It felt pretty good.”
Rumph’s evaluation of Whitley led him to believe the former basketball standout has the makings of a big-time college defensive end.
“You can’t teach size, obviously,” Whitley said. “Motor. Violent coming off the ball. Coachable. Being coachable. He said he’s going to develop me into a great player.”
After taking care of business Friday night, Whitley and the family hopped in the car and headed for Tuscaloosa, where they watched Alabama take down Vanderbilt.
“That was a great visit,” Whitley said. “Went to the game. I had dinner with some of the coaches after the game. It was pretty nice. I’m going back on an official visit on November 15th. They have a great D-line coach. He was there when (Nick) Saban was there and was one of the guys Coach (Kalen) DeBoer decided to keep. I feel like it would be a great fit for me. Obviously, Coach DeBoer came from Washington and coached for a national championship, so I just feel like it’s a great fit to potentially put me in the NFL or just develop me so I can strive in college.”
Whitley will head back to the Yellowhammer State this weekend with a visit to Auburn for the game with Georgia. He will go to Georgia October 18th for the Ole Miss game. The weekend after that, it’s back to Columbia for South Carolina vs Alabama. He also plans to set official visits with Clemson and USC.
Whitley still has visits to make, so his favorites’ list is incomplete, but he can go at least three deep.
“It’s kind of hard to say because I haven’t been to every single school,” he said. “I’ve been to Clemson the most, and I haven’t been to Florida or Auburn once, so it’s kind of hard to say now. But based off the schools I’ve been to, I’d probably say South Carolina, Bama and Clemson are probably my top three, currently. They are all about even right now, honestly. I haven’t taken any official visits, so I feel like the official visits will let me know.”
Through six games this season, Whitley has 22 tackles with nine tackles for loss, three sacks, ten quarterback hurries and two pass deflections.